User:FrostFairBlade/sandbox/Alinea (restaurant)

History

 * In 2001, Grant Achatz, a then-sous chef at The French Laundry, became the head chef of Trio in Evanston, Illinois
 * At his new position, Achatz was given the freedom to create a experimental and progressive menu inspired by global cuisine
 * His tenure at Trio garnered national praise, as he won the Rising Star award at the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2003
 * It was announced in June 2004 that Achatz would leave Trio to open his own restaurant, Alinea
 * To promote the restaurant, Achatz launched a website that featured a slideshow of artistic food imagery

Design

 * The name refers to a new paragraph

Cuisine

 * In a report for Nation's Restaurant News, Achatz described his food as "progressive American"
 * Achatz: "Ultimately, it comes back to how it tastes - that's where it starts - with flavor. [...] Then it gets put through its paces in the kitchen, for presentation and manipulation."
 * Achatz, on his intentions for Alinea's amuse-bouche course: "For us it becomes a way to disarm the diners. Yes, the food is highly manipulated, yes, it is aesthetically different than most that you have had, yes it tastes good, but it is also familiar and it is OK if it makes fun of itself. [...] If we can successfully place a dish in front of the guest that is visually unfamiliar yet tastes of one of the most comforting flavors known, we have successfully set the tone for the rest of the evening."
 * Consists of a 30-course tasting menu ($175), where each course's portions amount to a few bites
 * Diners can also choose sitting through 12 courses for $110, or six courses for $75
 * Courses include:
 * a "whimsical" take on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, where a peeled seedless grape is coated in a peanut purée and wrapped in a thin sheet of bread
 * a vegetarian dish featuring the flowers of a radish plant with sea beans and eggplant
 * wild Atlantic turbot, served with water chestnuts and clams and paired with a "lilac vapor" consisting of a bowl of lilac flowers steamed in water that guests are meant to smell
 * a prime rib-eye of beef, served with a deconstruction of steak sauce ingredients that have been dehydrated, puréed or reduced
 * Some menu items take as long as four months to perfect
 * Many of the ingredients that Achatz uses are sourced from artisanal producers
 * E.g. he uses finger limes grown by an Australian farmer that are uniquely hot pink and fluorescent green in color